1. Cute Josh prayer:

"...thank you for the stars, that shine like a diamond in the sky..."

2. Dekker understands more thank I think. This morning while I was getting ready Dekker was playing at my feet- he was trying to "tickle" me, but was really scratching my foot. I said, "Ouch Dekker; that hurts Mama!" Next thing I new he was leaning over and kissing my foot, I'm sure in an effort to help me feel better!

3. Josh's first drop off birthday party. It was the first time I just dropped Josh off for a party and picked him up later. My first born is really growing up.

4. Affording nice cars. Jake is swapping his Saab for an Audi S4. The Saab has been a good car, but its starting to have little problems here and there- and Jake's worried it might "fall apart". Really I think its just that he's wanting a new car love affair- he's been looking at a lot of different cars and test driving for a while now. He really fallen in love with the Audi S4 and today he found a good deal on an '05 with only 30k miles. There certainly are more "practical" cars- but I'm thankful we can afford to get him a car that he loves.

1. A canceled softball tournament. Jake would probably be upset that I was a little happy his tournament in Payson was canceled- they canceled it because the weather forecast was predicting rain- luckily though the day stayed pretty clear. We spent the day out in the yard and garden laying weed control tarp and wood chips, configuring our soaker hose, and buying/planting a few more starts as well as some flowers. Jake was a hard worker and even got the last row of tiles cut and laid for the bathroom as well as some trim and plumbing done...

2. Hooray for the bathroom project almost being done!

3. Hard work. Its a good principle to apply. Even though we have to push ourselves to get started, I've never said, "I wish I hadn't worked hard" but I've often said, "I wish I would have worked harder".

4. Decent weather Sunday evening. We had my older brother Brian here for dinner along with the normal Sunday crew. I'd prepped all this stuff for steak kabobs and grilled corn on the cobb and so was very happy when the weather was nice enough to grill and eat outside.

5. Time with my brother. It was nice to hang out with my brother. He's a cool guy and I enjoyed having him around for a bit.

Memorial Day

1. Magleby's Breakfast buffet. Cinnamon nutmeg french toast, bacon, eggs, muffins etc... yummy.

2. Opportunity to create a memory with Grandpa Bybee. This morning with went with my grandpa and aunt and uncle to visit my Grandmother's grave. It was neat to be there with him, as well as to see the whole cemetery dotted with flowers.

3. First family trip to the movies. We took Josh and Dekker to see Hortin Hears a Who at the dollar theater. It was packed with families so it was nice to not have to worry too much about the occasional outburst from Dekker. Dekker did better than I'd expected though- and Josh loved it (especially since he got to share the experience with his friend Sam). It was a super fun flick and I recommend it to anyone not "too cool" for animation films.

Things Fall Apart and some come back together

Doesn't it seem like when one thing breaks everything breaks? Lately it seems like everything has been falling apart- the refrigerator, laptop, cell phones and other such stuff... luckily most thing have been reparable and/or under warrentee!

1. Computers- when you don't have one for even just a couple days you start to realize how helpful they are (for paying bills, communicating, getting the weather, etc).

2. Indian Jones. A business associate sponsored an Indiana Jones showing - so Garrett and Kari watched the boys while I went to the movie with Jake!

3. Crazy weather brings brother to town. Yesterday I got a call from my big brother- he said that he had a friend who was hooking him up with weather reports and ski passes for Snowbird... In other words, "I'm at the airport right now, headed your way!" I love my spontaneous brother. So it will be fun- though I'm sure the bulk of his time will be spent in the mountains, we should get to see him some too!

1. First time out on the boat this season! For FHE last night we went out on the boat with the Barrands. It felt so good to be out on the boat again. It was a little choppy at first, so we did some tubing. Josh got out with Jake and though he was nervous at first, he was all smiles after just a minute out there. Then the water turned nice and so the wakeboard was brought out. It was lots of fun.

2. Afterwards we went to Maggie Moos for some ice cream. I got a dark chocolate shake with fresh strawberries. Yummy!

3. Tuckered kids. The boys were pretty tired when we got home and went to bed without much fight.

1. Temple weddings. As we were going to Jake's cousin's wedding Jake said, "I love temple weddings." His mom asked why and he said, "They're just so simple and beautiful." I have to agree. Its been a while since we've been to one, and especially since this one was in the Timpanogos Temple (where we were married) and performed by his grandpa (who performed ours) it brought back a lot of sweet memories. At one point Jake said to me, "I LOVED marrying you." It was really sweet because I could tell that he too was reflecting on that day that we chose to make our relationship eternal.

2. A beautiful weekend. The weather this weekend we had beautiful weather. I'm a little bummed we didn't get to take the boat out (Jake had a softball tournament in Delta on Saturday) but the girls (Jake's mom, and two sisters) and I took Josh and Dekker on a picnic up the canyon and had fun exploring and throwing rocks/sticks in the river.

3. Card games. This is a MUST when Jake's family is around.

4. Yummy BBQ. I know I've mentioned this a few times lately but we seriously LOVE to BBQ. Especially now that we've got our patio and yard stuff looking better for entertaining.

5. Etsy.com. I happened upon this cute website the other day and its now a favorite. The homemade pillows, art, and BAGS are so fun to admire!

6. Thank yous from Josh. Last night we all went miniature golfing. It was hard so close to the boys' bed time and with such a big group... Josh was running from hole to hole. As we were driving home Dekker was screaming in the back seat (he was just too tired to be his normal sweet self) and just as I was thinking "I should have just stayed home with the boys" Josh piped up and said, "Mama, Dad, thanks for taking me golfing!" It melted my heart- you could tell he'd had such a good time and was just bursting with gratitude.

Tomorrow Jake's cousin, Lindsey, is getting married, which means family started arriving today, which means we had to get as much of the bathroom project done and the house in a presentable state... thus we've been a little busy. The bathroom has come a long way though. Tile work 99% done (just have one strip along the door to do), its been sealed, got the new vanity and mirror in, the toilet in and working and things more or less cleaned up. We've still got one more piece (that we were missing until today) to get the sink working, and the tub/shower plumbing and then some of the lighting and finish work to do-- but its a huge improvement.

1. Home Depot just down the road. We've been there on average 2x a day this week I think!

2. A hardworking husband. So he gets a little upset when doing projects- since our projects always run into all kinds of kinks, that's expected- but he keeps plugging along.

3. My lil' brother and sister who have been over to help take care of the boys while I grout the bathroom or run other errands.

1. A busy and productive day. Lots of cleaning- but it felt good.

2. More progress on the bathroom! Floor tiles are in- now its time to grout, seal, paint, put in vanity, toilet and fixtures...

3. My garden. I've gotten a start on it- still needs lots of work- but it feels good to be growing things again.